#because I'm a fan of Queen

[gottagobackintime]

Music (and movies) and queerness in Ted Lasso. Particularly in relation to Ted (and Trent)

I want to start with a line from the show that contains the word music.

“If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it.” Said by Mae to Ted in a scene where a few moments later Trent walks up to him after leaving his date to go talk to him. It’s a quote from the VERY queer Shakespeare play “Twelfth Night”. The line implies that the speaker wants to be fed more, to the point of it making them sick so that they won’t desire, love in this case, anymore. Because he’s unhappily in love with someone who he can’t have (Michelle?). BUT he falls in love with someone else later. And in the context of Ted Lasso, this line just so happens to be said right before they show us that Trent is there. Ted also answers Mae, not by asking if she’s asking him if he wants more but “If that’s your fancy way of asking if I want another one, you guessed right”.Another love?And according to James Lance, it was when he was on his way to film this scene that he found out that Trent is gay and that he is “with that guy” as he himself puts it. A man who has a moustache very similar to Ted’s and wears similar clothes.

(Also, this happens in season 2 episode 7. In season 3, episode 7 Ted talks about the red string/thread of fate myth while Trent wears a red bracelet and they are connected by red several times and season 3, episodes 7 and 11 are connected via “You’ve got Mail”, the opening scene in episode 7 being a “tribute” to the movie, and there are other smaller references. And the team, and Trent, watching the movie in episode 11. AndTrent also wears the bracelet in episode 11, an episode I’ll bring up later in this post).

Now, let us get to the music.

Bruce Springsteen If you google “Bruce Springsteen queer” you get a lot of results discussing queerness in his songs and so on, so to put him in this post is a must.

Bruce Springsteen is brought up by Dottie in season 3 episode 11. She tells Trent about the time Ted got onstage and danced with Bruce Springsteen (which turns out to be a lie) but the connection to Springsteen is still there, because Ted did get onstage with a Bruce Springsteen cover band and sang with them. So, we’ve established a connection between Ted (and Trent) and Bruce Springsteen.

Let’s connect it to something else that happened in the episode. They watch “You’ve Got Mail” starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (I’ll come back to “You’ve Got Mail” later, the important part here is Tom Hanks). Ted states that the superior Nora Ephron/Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie is “Sleepless in Seattle”,a movie about a reporter falling for a single dad simply because of the way he talks about things and what he talks about. He brings the movie up twice, once to say that it’s superior and once telling someone to watch it. Now what does “Sleepless in Seattle” have to do with Bruce Springsteen? “Sleepless in Seattle” came out in 1993, as did “Philadelphia” a movie about a gay man played by Tom Hanks. Springsteen made a song called “Streets of Philadelphia”, specifically for this movie. A bit farfetched? Eh, perhaps, but I’m including it anyway.

So, in this episode Trent, a gay man, is told by Ted’s mum that Ted once went onstage with Bruce Springsteen and that’s the story he needs to confirm straight away. He practically skips towards Ted’s office to ask about it. Why that story? Surely she told him about other things too. And he heard the stories she told the team. But this was the story he was excited to get confirmed. A story about Ted’s connection to an artist that has several queer connections and who can also be connected to something else that is brought up in the episode.

Queen Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Their lead singer was queer.

And I talked about Fat Bottomed Girls and Queen/Freddie/Brian in THIS post. And I talk a little bit about the connection between Ted and Freddie Mercury in THIS post.

Queen has been used a lot throughout “Ted Lasso”, a lot more than I remembered. When I went back to look at the soundtrack for season 1 and 2, I found quite a few Queen songs. I also discovered that two of the trailers for season 2 had Queen songs in the background. “Under Pressure” (which also features David Bowie, another queer artist) and “We Will Rock You”.

Ted talks about having watched Queen at Live Aid on TV when he was younger, in season 2, episode 8 (that episode is called “Man City”, Ted mentions both Queen and Freddie Mercury. Season 3 episode 11 is called “Mom City” and Freddie Mercury is brought up again and a Queen song plays.) “Tear It Up” plays in season 2, episode 2 “We Are the Champions” plays in season 2, episode 9 “Fat Bottomed Girls” are both mentioned and played in season 3, episode 11 And, while not a Queen song, “Fought & Lost” by Sam Ryder featuring Brian May is also played in season 3, episode 11.

But let’s focus on “Fat Bottomed Girls”. Now, I’ve already talked about it in THIS post, that I also linked above. So, I won’t go over all that again. But a little recap, “Fat Bottomed Girls” is linked to “Bicycle Race” which is sometimes seen as a metaphor for being bi. They were both on the same single and they reference each other. The song is brought up by Higgins when he tells Keeley and Rebecca that Freddie, when he briefly owned Richmond in 1980, tried to make that song Richmond’s song but that it didn’t work. Rebecca then brings up that her dad went to art school with Freddie and that according to him if you would have asked Freddie what his greatest talent was, he would have said “flipping straights”.

We’ve already established Ted’s connection to Queen. And we’ve heard Ted refer to himself as straight just a few episodes ago (episode 7, and I’ve already pointed out the connection between episodes 7 and 11, this is another connection) now we get to hear Rebecca say that Freddie Mercury’s biggest talent was “flipping straights”. Ted is, as far as I know, and I’ve checked, the only person who refers to himself as straight, in the whole show. Not a single other character does that. Once in the Christmas special, once in season 3, episode 7, that’s two times. Will the rule of three apply here? Will he say that he’s straight a third time or will he subvert expectations or if you will, flip the script and say that he’s something else?

Dolly Parton Trent has worn a Dolly Parton shirt twice. Dolly Parton is a queer icon. In season 3, episode 11 Beard feels the need to call dibs on Dolly’s part in “Islands in the Stream” at karaoke. Implying that Ted perhaps snags that part for himself a lot of the time. Ted then walks away singing “Islands in the Stream”. Yet another queer connection between Trent and Ted via music.

Harry Nilsson/ (Judy Garland) Back to “You’ve got Mail”. The last scene of “You’ve got mail” ends with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meeting up and they kiss while Harry Nilsson’s cover of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” plays in the background. We’re shown that scene, not just by witnessing the characters watching it, but by it filling our own screen for a while. “Somewhere over the Rainbow” is of course from “The Wizard of Oz” originally, sung by Judy Garland. A queer icon. The connection to “The Wizard of Oz” and Ted Lasso has been brought up before. But in this episode, it’s very front and centre. Ted is standing at “The Wizard of Oz” pinball machine, staring at the spinning house. And of course, Ted’s connection to Kansas is always there. And it’s brought up in a very important way this episode, with his mother more or less telling him he should go home to Kansas.

So, we have a well-established connection between Ted and Kansas and “The Wizard of Oz”. Let’s talk more about Judy Garland, Dorothy, the original singer of “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. As I mentioned above, Judy Garland was and is a queer icon. And “The Wizard of Oz” was and is a big part of the queer community. Then we have the “Friend of Dorothy” euphemism, a way to recognise other queer people, and it’s strongly associated with Judy Garland’s Dorothy. In episode 11 we are introduced to Ted’s mother, Dottie, which is a nickname/shortening of Dorothy. Another very clear queer connection to Ted.

And let us also look at James Lance who has said that there is a story arc for Trent’s shirts. And he wore a t-shirt with Dorothy’s ruby slippers to an event that is connected to Ted Lasso. And when asked why he was wearing that shirt, why he chose to honour Dorothy. It feels like he’s deflecting when he says “Well, every good character’s got to have a good pair of shoes, right. And these are surely, surely,the best pair of shoes in showbiz. So, you know, they get their own t-shirt. There aren’t many shoes to do that.” That’s suspicious. And we now know that James has had a lot of input into Trent’s costume, with him suggesting things and getting a thumbs up a lot of the time. He clearly thinks that clothes are important and can send a message. And he chose to wear a Dorothy shirt to a red carpet. When we now know that the eleventh episode of season three had several heavy references to “The Wizard of Oz”.

And to go back to Harry Nilsson. A song sung by him was on the soundtrack for Midnight Cowboy, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, a queer movie. (And let’s remember that Trent himself said that Dustin Hoffman would probably play him in a movie).

Honourable mention

Mumford & Sons/Marcus Mumford

Why would I add Mumford & Sons and Marcus Mumford? Because Marcus Mumford made the theme song to Ted Lasso and the instrumental songs for the soundtrack, they’ve also used both Mumford & Sons and Marcus Mumford songs in the show. And the band have a connection to Jason Sudeikis. He was in the official music video for Mumford & Sons’ song “Hopeless Wanderer”, inthat video he clearly plays a version of Marcus, and he kisses another man in it. I think that deserves an honourable mention.

So, to sum it all up, there is queer subtext in the music and the artists that they mention and play in Ted Lasso, and these are just the ones that I personally can connect to Ted (and Ted/Trent). I don’t know if it is a coincidence, but I feel like there is way too much to just be a coincidence. To borrow part of Trent’s line “Through thousands of imperceptible moments, all leading to their inevitable conclusion.” Number four, that doesn’t even matter (but it actually does), LOVE. Queer love.

[wiredalienvampire]

queenie is my wife and I'm in love with her

+ totally professional art tip: when you don't know what to put on your art to make it look interesting pngs r yr best friend 💅 /joke

[blackdalek]

Rules: Without naming them, post a gif of ten of your favourite ships (any media), then tag ten people to do the same.

tagged by @littleblackraincloudofcourse thank you for tagging me

no pressure tagging: @greyheadedjaco @callme-cowboy @tenderfemme @girl4music @jlmichigan @agatharioscoven @teekaa-two @bizzybee429 @tootzhie1 @spybrarian

[chipped-chimera]

Shrimp Inspector 🦐👀

[luthordamnvers]

“Kara is idealistic, yes. You are realistic. That doesn’t mean you are different.” Kelly paused, then, “I have not seen anyone as connected as you two.” “That’s not true,” Lena disrupted her speech. “She’s like the sun, and I’m m–" “If you say moon, I’m going to smack you so hard sparks are going to explode everywhere.” Kelly threatened in jest. 

(x)

For @itsalliebitheway as a belated present, for our mutual love for blondie's lyrics and supercorp.

[presiding]

they're more than statues.

billie & delilah by @punkcats. commissioned for the contract

[anaugust]

Small bubbline doodle.

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

BEHOLD!!!

𝕄𝕆𝕋ℍℝ𝔸 ℝ𝔼𝔹𝕆ℝℕ!!!

MY VERY OWN TAKE OF MV HUMAN!MOTHRA REBORN ON GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE!!!

Yes, I redesigned her version into GxK and the results were indeed phenomenal unlike my KOTM style! Definitely one of my hardest challenges to do such an exquisite art!

And I added an extra design of her waist! Since she is worshipped also by the Iwis, I wanted to add a red linen cloth like Jia to further emphasize that she protected the Iwis.

From now on, this would be my official design for Mothra Reborn on GxK. I hope you absolutely love it!

( @sassyassblog @mossizi This is for both of you as a surprise! ) 🤩🥰

AND!!!

Here's the original design of my first MV Mothra Gijinka in KOTM.

I WORKED, 5 HOURS!!! ALL I WANT IS TO FINISH MY UNFINISHED ART BUT WHY FUCKING WHY?!?!?! I'M ALMOST STARVING AND GOT MY HAND HURT!!!!!

*ANYONE WHO POSTED MY ART WITHOUT PERMISSION SHALL RECEIVE WARNINGS, FLAMES AND VALID REASONS*

[dollypopup]

Not a question per say but I thought this was an interesting Reddit post and I know you've said similar stuff in the past (https://www.reddit.com/r/BridgertonRants/comments/1ibjy0z/do_some_polins_even_like_colin_bridgerton/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)

Oh man, I was sick of the 'make Colin grovel/beg/suffer' nonsense all the way back in SEASON 2!!!!! It's a shame it continues to be all too prominent of a theme in Polin in general. (honestly, this is why I stopped reading and writing fics) but whoever the person who made that rant is, I wanna be friends with them! I feel like a lot of Colin fans have been outspoken about how unfairly he's treated in what should be his fandom, but because we're a minority in the fandom, we get pushed out by polin fans who just. . .don't like him? (Why they gravitate to this ship I will NEVER know) And the people talking about how 'Oh, they're not *really* Polin fans, they're Pen stans!' like. . .they're still the ones that went on Polin fics (including my own?) and talked about how Colin didn't deserve her? They still wrote so called 'Polin' fics with no pushback at all of Penelope abusing him and it being totally fine? They were all too happy to see Colin pushed to the wayside time and time again? Can't lay down with dogs and be surprised you have fleas in the morning, you know?

Like it's genuinely no surprise to me that Pen stans who hated Colin but still shipped Polin for the sake of Pen getting her prize became Nicola stans who hate Luke because they're mad that they didn't get together.

I miss the Polin that were *both* ride or die for each other in fandom. Since S2 I feel like it's just Pen being an OOC girlboss queen and Colin being her footstool in way too much of this fanbase. God forbid he have any emotion other than full fawning over her. smh

I think we go through cycles in the fandom. Maybe we're in a new era of people recognizing how toxic Polin is/was/can be and people are calling out how weird it is that the fanbase seemingly hates half the ship. But idk, I feel like this is just another person who will be pushed off to the side because though what they said was true, people just don't wanna hear it. I will always ALWAYS stand by the fact that people can write whatever they want and deserve respect in fandom. I avoid any of those fics because I try not to say negative things to or about creators. But sometimes I so badly want to be like 'if you read this from his perspective, is it a love story, or is it a tragedy?' and like. . .most of the time, from his POV in these stories, it's a tragedy. And there's really not a lot of variety (most of the stories that countered the typical 'colin begs and suffers and grovels and is called an idiot' narrative have left) so it's all there is. And you just can't help but come to the conclusion that this fandom just. . .doesn't like him.

Which sucks, he's fantastic. Polin deserves love stories where they're both treated well.

[strohller27]

Yes Hello to all my fellow Miss Lemon fans out there:

If you love her as much as I do, then 6.2 Hickory Dickory Dock is the episode for you

Now let us all just take a moment out of our busy day to bask in her glory:

That coat with those hats?? ICONIC she has such a flawless style

and this little scene where she's like 'this is just a quirk of Mr. Poirot's, don't worry about it' fellas help she's so cute

also HELP lads she took Poirot's comment about Inspector Japp's 'healthy appetite' way too literally!! LEMON SOLE! she's so funny aagh

Also she looks really damn good in burgundy wow

Also you know I hate the trope where guys tell ladies to take their glasses off and let their hair flow in the wind because they'd somehow be 'sexier' or whatever. That is just simply not true. Case in point: Look at how cute Miss Lemon is in her glasses!!

Just. Everyone just. Look at my favourite girl. Look at her!!! Her filing system is perfect! Her filing system could kick your ass!!!

[littlefankingdom]

A crack headcanon I have is that Damian listens to J-Pop.

Just imagine the Batmobile speeding through the streets, windows down, blasting Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's music, as Robin (who neither has a licence or his father's authorization to be driving the car) is behind the wheel.

His love for J-Pop does include Vocaloid, which Tim also listens too, but neither knew about their shared interest until, one day, Damian walks in the cave on Tim humming a Miku's song to himself, while working on the batcomputer.

"Drake, are you also an admirer of her highness Hatsune Miku?"

[torchickentacos]

Skyrim NPCs seemed kind of bland to me at first but the more I play and the more characters I meet, the more I love them all??? this game slaps and I am once more partaking in that thing where I show up 15 years late to something and go 'wow this is great, why is nobody talking about this???' (they did) (15 years ago) (extensively) (I ignored it) (people told me to play it) (I didn't until I felt like it) (here we are)

[irenespring]

Starting season 7 of ER rewatch with dread in my heart.

This is actually great timing though because even though [Redacted] College has screwed me over royally, its fuckery has put me in a position to write one of my final college papers ever on Kerry Weaver's seasons 2-8 arc as a tragic backstory arc or Kerry overall as a genre atypical tragic figure.

Still.

I just want to protect her from the horrors. She needs a therapist and a friend and her mentor healthy again to tell her she's amazing and if anything her newly discovered queerness only enhances that. She needs literally one (1) person in her support system. She just needs someone to tell her she's going to be okay and that the one thing she has in her life (her job) is safe. But the whole basis of her tragic-ness is that the writers sabotage her every attempt to not be lonely. So...

[starrstruckcanuck]

Been thinking of making a tierlist of my thoughts on all the teams for a while so here it is!! As you can see, I am indifferent to or hate most of the league... 😶‍🌫️🫣 which is why I generally say I'm more of a Canucks fan than a hockey fan lol

[shamelesstragedyenjoyer]

I'd love to read more canon accurate fics regarding both Duke and Damian's relashionships with their families. The prevailing fanon consensus seems to be that of depicting Duke seamlessly integrating into the Batfamily, overlooking his commitment to his living parents and his intention to reunite with them. For Duke, identifying as a member of the Batfamily feels like forsaking his existing family ties. "It's only temporary" he tells Bruce in Batman and The Signal (2018), and means it. Similarly, Damian's allegiance leans more towards the Al Ghuls than it does the Waynes. It's a very complex overall situation wherein which he sometimes prioritizes his relationship with the Al Ghuls, and others his Wayne lineage.

[aerticent]

Really bothers me how Kilorn's disdain for Cal in GS is boiled down into being primarily made up of jealously over Cal's abilities and his relationship to Mare when Kilorn has every reason to hate Cal and have no respect for him whatsoever.

Kilorn in RQ is nearly sent to his death in war that isn't his to fight and the only reason he avoids it is because Mare saves him after being held captive by the royal family. He's lived in oppression his entire life and Cal is at the very top of the ladder. Cal is heir to the throne that oppresses Kilorn and RQ ends with Cal arresting Mare to have her killed. Kilorn has every reason to hate him, so for Mare, and the narrative by extension, to treat it as something he needs to get over is wild.

I think what disappoints me the most about this is that it could've been used to show how utterly disconnected from Reds Cal is by this point. Have Kilorn hate Cal because Cal is the physical representation of the system that has oppressed Kilorn, and his people, for his entire life. Have him resent Cal for what he did to Mare, Farely, and the Guard as a whole in RQ. And then have Cal's disdain come from something as childish as Kilorn's annoying and Cal is jealous over his bond with Mare- show how disconnected Cal is from the Red's he wants to rule over that he can't even understand the core of why one would hate him so much.